[Nikki Giovanni is one of America’s most acclaimed poets and a
well-known voice of the Civil Rights, Black Power, and Black Lives
Matter movements. A powerful writer and trailblazing activist,
Giovanni’s words have inspired the masses for decades.]
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PORTSIDE CULTURE

‘GOING TO MARS: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI PROJECT’ PROVES THE POWER OF
POETRY  
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Mckenna Neef
March 23, 2023
Vox
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_ Nikki Giovanni is one of America’s most acclaimed poets and a
well-known voice of the Civil Rights, Black Power, and Black Lives
Matter movements. A powerful writer and trailblazing activist,
Giovanni’s words have inspired the masses for decades. _

Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (2023) , IMDB

 

At 79 years old, Nikki Giovanni is one of America’s most acclaimed
poets and a well-known voice of the Civil Rights, Black Power, Black
Arts and Black Lives Matter movements. A powerful writer and
trailblazing activist, Giovanni’s words have inspired the masses for
decades, and _Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project_ continues
that trend.

By employing references to the intergalactic, _Going to
Mars_ centers on Giovanni's advocacy of Black women as the solution
to a brighter future, according to Ragtag Film Society
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The documentary has already been awarded Sundance’s Grand Jury
Prize
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which recognizes films that “amplify the fearless and dynamic
stories across sections.After seven years, co-directors and partners
Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson have assembled a documentary that
merges Giovanni’s poetry with both past and present interviews,
archival images, archival videos and performances. The Sundance Film
Festival
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the film as such: “Through a collision of memories, moments in
American history, live readings of her poetry, and impressions of
space, Giovanni urges us to imagine a future where Black women lead,
and equity is a reality."

Brewster and Stephenson utilize the medium of film to create something
that, in many ways, mimics poetry itself. “Everything we do is about
telling the story in multiple ways at the same time,” Brewster says
in the post-film Q&A. “Everything is intentionally saying, ‘How
can you broaden storytelling?’”

As the film cuts quickly between past and present, earthly and
otherworldly, poetry and pictures, the creators of _Going to
Mars_ break the traditional mold of the documentary film. As the
music shifts and a shot of Giovanni’s eyes merge into a rendering of
constellations, the viewer cannot help but sit on the edge of their
seat. Just a glance away, and a meaning is missed.

Brewster and Stephenson dig into Giovanni’s influential life and
resolute personality while simultaneously confronting her fading
memories. As she struggles with seizures, Giovanni begins to lose
pieces of her past. Due to its cohabitation of the past and
present, _Going to Mars_ allows both Giovanni and the viewer to
recount her work and its impact over the past five decades.

“Some of the intention was to collapse time, so that when we were
juxtaposing her in the present, her in the past and commentary, it was
really about what was the meaning between those two?” Stephenson
says after the film.

Ultimately, _Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project_ illuminates
Giovanni’s poetry in a way that is both heartbreaking and inspiring,
bringing her words back into the forefront of viewers’ minds.

_'GOING TO MARS: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI PROJECT' PREMIERED AT SUNDANCE, IS
CURRENTLY SCREENING AT THE NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL AND WILL BE IN
THEATERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY BEGINNING NOVEMBER 3RD._

* Film
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* Film Review
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* Documentary Film
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* Nikki Giovanni
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* 'Going to Mars: the Nikki Giovanni Project'
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